PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Xathras Choate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jan Olov Hermansson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Choate might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Dog the Nine. Hermansson has chosen Rammstein - Ich Will! as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Choate
vs
Olov Hermansson

172 cm
32
149 lbs
21 - 16 - 1

178 cm
35
158 lbs
22 - 18 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 21 - 16 - 1, fighting out of New York, Xathras Choate!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 18 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jan Olov Hermansson!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Richard Clark and Phil Schofield.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hermansson throws out a loose jab but Choate uses good head movement to avoid it.
Choate looked to counter with a high kick but didn't commit.
Choate motions for Hermansson to come forward. Choate throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Hermansson throws a hook but Choate avoids it easily.
Hermansson fails with a takedown attempt.
Hermansson throws the left hand but Choate avoids the punch easily.
Choate lands a nice looking body kick.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Choate, right into the meat.
Xathras Choate seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Choate thows a left - swing and a miss!
Choate misses with a low kick.
Choate scores with a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hermansson rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Choate makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Choate misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Hermansson changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Choate swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Hermansson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Choate manages to avoid it.
A swing and a miss from Hermansson.
Choate misses with a hook.
Choate lands a nice shot to the body.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Hermansson has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Hermansson jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Hermansson scores with a jab to the body.
Hermansson cracks Choate with a good jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hermansson keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Hermansson scores with a punch to the head.
Hermansson tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Hermansson throws the left hand but Choate avoids the punch easily.
Hermansson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Choate moves away.
Choate takes a swing at Hermansson's ribcage but misses.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hermansson scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
A jab from Choate misses.
Hermansson lands with an uppercut that bounces Choate off the cage and back into range.
Hermansson takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Choate misses with an uppercut. Hermansson saw that one coming.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Choate takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Choate lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Hermansson just misses with a punch to the body.
Jab by Choate.
A shot to the liver by Choate. Beautiful body shot.
Choate looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Choate feints and then cracks Hermansson's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Hermansson down.
Hermansson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Choate sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hermansson throws a lazy right hand but Choate sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Xathras Choate is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hermansson cracks a nice hook into Choate's ribs.
We've been told by Choate's head coaches at Sweat that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hermansson has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Hermansson there as he acknowledges the shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Choate stuns Hermansson with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Hermansson throws an overhand right that lands on Choate's shoulder, as Choate tries to avoid the shot.
Choate throws the kick towards the body but Hermansson avoids it.
Hermansson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Choate.
Choate connects with a leg kick. Hermansson looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Hermansson throws a shot from downtown. Choate moves away and avoids it.
Choate buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Choate loads up on a big right hand but Hermansson slips the punch.
Choate uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Hermansson.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xathras Choate dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Choate misses with a hook.
Hermansson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Choate throws a sloppy head kick and Hermansson moves out of range easily.
Hermansson is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Choate lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Hermansson has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Hermansson and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Choate here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Choate throws a head kick that misses.
Hermansson connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Hermansson misses with an uppercut
and Choate counters with a low kick, right behind Hermansson 's knee.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Choate connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Hermansson.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hermansson tries to close the distance and clinch up but Choate swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Hermansson throws a hook but Choate avoids it easily.
A counter left hand to the body from Choate misses its target.
Hermansson lands with a shot to the body.
Hermansson's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Choate looks to land a right hand but Hermansson moved out of range.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with eachother but Hermansson might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Choate has got the better of the exchanges.
Choate slips a straight right by Hermansson.
Choate throws a leg kick that misses.
Choate is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hermansson can do to turn this around?
Choate bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hermansson throws a body shot but no joy.

Hermansson clinches with his opponent.
Hermansson misses with a body punch.
Choate tries to work over Hermansson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Choate tries to work over Hermansson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Choate lands with a left to the head.

Choate breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Choate throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Good leg kick by Choate there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Choate scores with a leg kick.
Choate buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Hermansson avoids the head kick by Choate.
Hermansson stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Choate.
Hermansson misses with a hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Choate lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Hermansson throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Choate stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Choate swings for the body but Hermansson moves out of range.
Hermansson checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Hermansson scores with a hook to the body. Choate takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Hermansson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hermansson fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Choate looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Hermansson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Choate.
A punch lands to the side of Hermansson 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Hermansson moves away from the strike by Choate.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Good leg kick by Choate there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Choate motions for Hermansson to come forward. Choate throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Choate defending well as Hermansson loads up on a big left hand.
Choate throwing a counter right hand but Hermansson manages to avoid it.
Choate slips under a jab from Hermansson.
Choate swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Choate attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Choate swats away the attempt to clinch by Hermansson.
Hermansson takes a swing at Choate's ribcage but misses.
A little feinted left hand from Choate on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Xathras Choate is winning the standup battle so far.
Hermansson tries to clinch but Choate moves out of range.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hermansson misses the shot to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xathras Choate dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Hermansson checks the leg kick nicely there.
Hermansson tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Choate moves out of range of the strikes.
Choate throws a jab but it's blocked by Hermansson.
Hermansson feints the counter takedown.
Choate thows a left - swing and a miss!
Hermansson throws a lazy right hand but Choate sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A combination from Choate does no damage.
Choate dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hermansson. That did some damage!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hermansson gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Choate wants to break the clinch but can't.
Choate misses with a punch on the inside.
Choate misses with a punch to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hermansson lands a body shot in the clinch.
Choate tries to work over Hermansson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Hermansson misses with a punch to the body.
Choate misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Choate misses with the head strike.
Choate throws a head punch that misses.
Choate doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Choate lands with a light punch inside.
Hermansson lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Choate goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Hermansson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Choate smiles and moves away.
Jan Olov Hermansson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Hermansson misses the target.
Choate bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Hermansson's head backwards.
Hermansson cracks Choate with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Hermansson's jab looks to have found its range, popping Choate under the eye.
Choate throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Choate attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Choate just misses with a punch to the body.
Choate with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Hermansson to score with a decent uppercut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Choate throws a sloppy head kick and Hermansson moves out of range easily.
Choate throws a leg kick but Hermansson moved away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Choate has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Hermansson finds it's way round the side to connect with Choate's head.
Hermansson misses with a body shot.
Choate tried to counter with a leg kick but Hermansson avoided it.
Hermansson misses the shot to the body.
Choate throws a low kick but Hermansson moves out of range easily.
Choate just misses with a punch to the body.
Choate connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Hermansson's hands.
Choate lands a nice shot to the body.
Choate jabs Hermansson right on the nose. Hermansson blinks but takes it well.
Hermansson bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Choate misses the shot to the body.
Hermansson is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Choate throws a body punch but Hermansson moves out of range.
Hermansson changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Choate fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Hermansson on the side of the head.
Choate connects with a body shot that sends Hermansson's belly button to the back.
Hermansson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hermansson avoids the body shot from Choate.
Hermansson changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Good leg kick by Choate there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Some bone on bone action there as Hermansson checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Hermansson swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Choate counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Hermansson looks to land a left hand but Choate moved out of range nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xathras Choate showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Choate has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xathras Choate!
An out of breath Xathras Choate thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.